We adored the wonderful childhood memories of Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Darsie Beck.

Thank you so much!

We have a huge surprise for you - the best cinnamon rolls ever from the Burbanks' kitchen.

I tried this recipe and I can't stop eating them.

Hmmmmmmmhhhhhh....................................

Try it please and you are lost like me!

Cinnamon rolls from the Burbanks' kitchen

Darsie obediently got up, took the sugar bowl and went out to the
kitchen. After a long long time he came back to the breakfast table with
a plate of cinnamon rolls.

"What are these for?" his father said. "And where is the sugar?"

"Sugar?" said Darsie. "What about sugar?"

"I told you to fill the sugar bowl," said Mrs. Burbank.

"Oh," said Darsie, "I thought you said, 'Get the cinnamon roll.'"

from Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic by Betty MacDonald

The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series is full to the brim with references
to classic American foods like sugar cookies, root beer floats, and
peanut butter sandwiches. I read all of the books (multiple times) as I
was growing up, and true to my foodie tendencies, I was often distracted
by the foods described at the characters' mealtimes, parties, or garden
club meetings.

Written in the 1940's and 1950's, it's no surprise that these classics
pop up through all the books. This was a time of economic abundance and
the growing popularity of pre-packaged foods. The most vogue recipes
were the ones that included brand names. So it was a time when a lot of
American classics were born.

And it doesn't get much more classic (or delicious) than cinnamon rolls.

My rolls are stuffed with plenty of cinnamon and pecans, so they are reminiscent of pecan spinwheels.
Made completely with whole wheat flour, I was afraid these would be a
bit too heavy or chewy. But while they're not as cake-y as their white
flour counterparts, the texture is actually really lovely, like a soft
bread.

Um, also? Vegan.

I couldn't bring myself to make them without real icing and a candied
center though, so you'll find that these call for brown and powdered
sugar. But compared to a typical recipe,
they require only about half of what's usually used. And if you'd like
to make it even healthier, you could substitute palm sugar for the brown
sugar, and try this date syrup as icing.

I'm pretty sold on this version though. Even J, who is notorious for his
rejection of sweet snacks, couldn't keep his paws off of these.

1. Heat the milk in the microwave until 100-110 degrees (about 1 min).
Sprinkle 1 tsp of the brown sugar and the yeast over the milk. Stir,
then set aside to proof for 5-10 minutes.

2. In the meantime, combine the 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 1/2 cups flour,
baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Form a well in the
mixture, then pour in the yeast and applesauce. Stir until holding
together, then add the rest of the flour a couple of tablespoons at a
time. When stirring is no longer possible, begin kneading the dough,
adding more flour until you have a ball without stickiness. I needed the
full 3 cups of flour...you might even need a bit more.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about a 12" by
18" rectangle, about 1/4" thick. Combine the four filling ingredients in
a food processor and pulse until well blended. Spread evenly over the
dough, leaving about 1" empty on a long edge. From the opposite edge,
roll the dough up, then pinch to seal. You will have a long tube of
dough.

4. Cut the ends off, then cut the dough into 12 pieces. Grease a baking
dish and carefully place the pieces in it, with the cinnamon spirals
facing up. Cover with a warm dishtowel and place in a warm place to
rise, about 45-60 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes. Allow rolls to cool for at least 10 minutes before icing.

6. To the powdered sugar, add a very small amount of almond milk
(less than 1 tsp). Stir until well combined, and add more milk as
needed, until desired consistency. Stir in the vanilla, then drizzle
over the cinnamon rolls.

first of all, these will be the first thing i bake in our new oven.second of all, it has been forever since i've seen your space (i always get/read your email updates) and i LOVE your new design!third of all, your photography is awesome.fourth of all, i am so proud of you.fifth of all, i love you.

CLAIR!!!
MISS PIGGLE WIGGLE BOOKS WERE MY FAVORITE!!! Oh it makes me SO HAPPY
that someone else knows about them. NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT THEM! My Mom read
them to me growing up and now she has become a bit of a "Miss Piggle
Wiggle" herself. (She's a retired elementary school teacher turned
nanny). Such a treat. Thanks!

Umm...
You know cinnamon rolls have been calling my name the last few
weeks.... and since I haven't had one in almost 3 years - I think I
should just have a cinnamon roll - and it it too! ;)These look super yummy ;) xoxo

I agree with Betty in this very witty Betty MacDonald story Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say by Wolfgang Hampel.

I
can't imagine to live in a country with him as so-called elected
President although there are very good reasons to remain there to fight
against these brainless politics.

Donald Trump
has used his first TV interview as president to say he believes torture
“absolutely” works and that the US should “fight fire with fire.”Speaking to ABC News, Trump said he would defer to the defence
secretary, James Mattis, and CIA director, Mike Pompeo, to determine
what can and cannot be done legally to combat the spread of terrorism.But asked about the efficacy of tactics such as waterboarding, Trump said: “absolutely I feel it works.”

Don't miss these very interesting articles below, please.

Lately,
it appears Trump has gone back into the field to drag in a whole new
bunch of State contenders.

My favorite is Representative Dana
Rohrabacher of California, a person you have probably never heard of
even though he’s been in Congress since the 1980s and is currently head
of the prestigious Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.

I think the future dinosaur flatulence will be the behaviour of 'Pussy' and his very strange government.

Poor World! Poor America!

Don't miss these very interesting articles below, please.

The most difficult case in Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle's career

Hello 'Pussy', this is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

You
took calls from foreign leaders on unsecured phone lines, without
consultung the State Department. We have to change your silly behaviour
with a new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cure. I know you are the most difficult
case in my career - but we have to try everything.......................

Besides him ( by the way the First Lady's place ) his 10 year old son was bored to death and listened to this 'exciting' victory speech.

The old man could be his great-grandfather.

The
boy was very tired and thought: I don't know what this old guy is
talking about. Come on and finish it, please. I'd like to go to bed.Dear 'great-grandfather' continued and praised the Democratic candidate.

This
is incredible! I'll You get what you pay/vote for and Trump is the
epitome of this ideology. America I won't feel bad for you because you
don't need my sympathy for what's coming but I am genuinely scared for
you. 'Forgive them lord for they know not who they do' or maybe they do
but just don't care about their future generations who will suffer for
this long after the culprits have passed away.

In 2006, Palin obtained a passport[88] and in 2007 traveled for the first time outside of North America on a trip to Kuwait. There she visited the Khabari Alawazem Crossing at the Kuwait–Iraq border and met with members of the Alaska National Guard at several bases.[89] On her return journey she visited injured soldiers in Germany.[90]That's the reason why very intelligent and brilliant Sarah Palin knows the World very well. Sarah and ' Pussygate ' will rule America and the World - what a couple.

Wolfgang
Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty
MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans.

Many Betty MacDonald - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his
very funny poems and stories.

We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.Tell us the names of this mysterious couple please and you can win a very new Betty MacDonald documentary.

The series premiered on September 3,
1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1,
1952.

Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty
attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later
known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John
Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as
Pa Kettle.

Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.

Trump claims torture works but experts warn of its 'potentially existential' costs

Trump gives first presidential TV interview as draft executive order points to return to practices such as waterboarding

Donald Trump
has used his first TV interview as president to say he believes torture
“absolutely” works and that the US should “fight fire with fire.”Speaking to ABC News, Trump said he would defer to the defence
secretary, James Mattis, and CIA director, Mike Pompeo, to determine
what can and cannot be done legally to combat the spread of terrorism.But asked about the efficacy of tactics such as waterboarding, Trump said: “absolutely I feel it works.”

“When Isis is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since
medieval times. Would I feel strongly about waterboarding. As far as I’m
concerned we have to fight fire with fire.”Trump said he asked intelligence chiefs earlier this week whether torture works. “The answer was yes, absolutely,” he said.

It is difficult to gather useful information through
torture, and attempting to do so can have far-reaching consequences

Read more

He added that terrorist groups “chop off the citizens’ or anybody’s
heads in the Middle East, because they’re Christian or Muslim or
anything else ... we have that and we’re not allowed to do anything.
We’re not playing on an even field.”The interviews come after reports that Trump is preparing to sign an
executive order that would reinstate the detention of terrorism suspects
at facilities known as “black sites”. This would remove limitations on coercive interrogation techniques
set by a longstanding army field manual intended to ensure humane
military interrogations, which is mostly compliant with the Geneva
Conventions. Mattis and Pompeo were “blindsided” by reports of the draft
order, Politico said citing sources.However, Trump faces resistance to the prospect of the reintroduction of torture.On Wednesday, Steve Kleinman, a retired air force colonel and senior
adviser to the FBI-led team that interrogates terrorist suspects warned
that weakening US prohibitions against torture was dangerous and
ignorant.“A lot of these people who weigh in heavily on interrogation have no
idea how little they know, [and do so] because of what they see on
television,” said Kleinman, chairman of the research advisory committee
to the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG).“There is, at best, anecdotal evidence to support torture,” said Kleinman, who emphasized that he was not speaking for the HIG.

“There is, on the other hand, a robust body of scientific
literature and field testing that demonstrates the efficacy of a
relationship-based, rapport-based, cognitive-based approach to
interrogation, as well as a robust literature that would suggest torture
immediately undermines a source’s ability to be a reliable reporter of
information: memory is undermined, judgment is undermined,
decision-making is undermined, time-references are undermined. And this
is only from a purely operational perspective; we can’t take the
morality out of strategy.”“If the US was to make it once again the policy of the country to
coerce, and to detain at length in an extrajudicial fashion, the costs
would be beyond substantial – they’d be potentially existential,”
Kleinman said.Senator John McCain, a torture survivor and co-author of a 2015 law
barring the US security agencies from using interrogation techniques
that surpass the prohibitions beyond those set out in the US army field
manual, signalled his defiance.“The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the
law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of
America,” said McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the Senate
armed services committee.McCain referenced explicit guarantees from Pompeo and Mattis during their Senate confirmation proceedings to
follow the interrogations law and the army field manual. “I am
confident these leaders will be true to their word,” McCain said.The former CIA head Leon Panetta, who gave the orders to close the
agency’s black sites told the BBC that it would be a “mistake” to
reintroduce enhanced interrogation techniques and “damaging” to the
reputation of the US. Panetta said torture was violation of the US values and the constitution.

President appears to believe ‘torture works’ – raising
prospect of reviving techniques the CIA had moved away from

Read more

Mark Fallon, who was the deputy chief of Guantánamo’s Bush-era
investigative taskforce for military tribunals, said: “It does appear
like a subterfuge to enact more brutal methods because that was what
candidate Trump campaigned on during the election.”Fallon warned that the field manual’s appendix M, which allows
extended “separation” of a detainee from other captives, represented a
“slippery slope that could bring back torture”.Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, has been urged to by her own MPs to make Britain’s opposition to torture clear to Trump when she visits him on Friday.At prime minister’s questions Andrew Tyrie, a senior Tory MP, said:
“President Trump has repeatedly said he will bring back torture as an
instrument of policy. When she sees him on Friday, will the prime
minister make it clear that in no circumstances will she permit Britain
to be dragged into facilitating that torture, as we were after 11
September?”

Since you’re here…

…we
have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than
ever but far fewer are paying for it. And advertising revenues across
the media are falling fast. So you can see why we need to ask for your
help. The Guardian's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot
of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe
our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective,
too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to pay for it, our future would be much more secure.

Topics

A new president, a new predator and a liberal island is worried about its way of life

(William
Yardley / Los Angeles Times)

William Yardley

Shortly after Donald Trump
accepted the Republican nomination for president last summer, a cougar
swam across a salt-water channel to this island oasis amid Seattle and
its suburbs.At the time, many people here viewed the
candidate and the big cat as interlopers, soon to be exposed and
expelled. But both are still around — and one is clearly causing more
concern than the other on this increasingly anxious island.“If we could have the cougar or Trump for the next four
years, I’d take the cougar,” said Tristan Dornall, 27, who has not
ventured alone into the woods near his house since he had a startlingly
close encounter with the animal there in November. “I mean, definitely.”If
Seattle is the predictably Democratic capital of the Pacific Northwest,
Vashon, just 20 minutes away by ferry, is one of the region’s
experimental laboratories, a place where new strains of environmentalism
and progressivism flourish, unencumbered by mainland reality. It
presents an increasingly rare constituency: rural but not red.

Country roads curve through art galleries, alpaca
farms and sustainable distilleries. A nonprofit’s popular “rewilding”
program teaches families “our renowned approach to deep nature
connection and the bundle of teachings we call Coyote Mentoring.”Of the 7,701 people here who cast ballots for president in November, fewer than 13% voted for Trump, and nearly 78% backed Hillary Clinton.

Now,
as the Trump era unfolds, Vashon is confronting what many parts of
liberal America feel, an uncomfortable blend of realization,
determination and fear. And this being an island — a bubble, yes,
islanders know that — there is also a temptation to retrench, to shrink
the world to the immediate shoreline.“I tend to be very
globally minded, and I think my processing right now is to think more
locally,” said April Sherman, whose great-great-grandfather homesteaded
here in the 1870s. “I feel a little out of control, like I can’t do
much.”Some Vashon residents say they want to reach out,
to bridge the cultural and economic divisions Trump’s campaign helped
reveal. Many also express resolve to fight harder than ever to protect
the planet and their unique piece of it.“Since the
advent of environmental laws, I think there is more gravely at risk now
than ever before,” said Amy Carey, whose fight to stop a gravel mine
from being dug here more than a decade ago led her to found Sound
Action, an assertive nonprofit that works to protect nearshore areas all
over Puget Sound. “And we have no gimme room for error.”A
couple of years ago, stories shot across the Internet declaring Vashon
the most liberal place in the United States based on an analysis of
political donations. Not long after, that analysis was debunked by an
island newspaper, which concluded that, using the same measure, Vashon
was merely more liberal than Seattle. Other skeptics have questioned
what liberalism really looks like in a wealthy enclave where more
than 90% of its 10,600 residents are white.Islanders,
ever self-aware, are trying to answer the question themselves. They have
been working to finalize a new zoning plan that aspires to a
challenging progressive balance — increase the amount of affordable
housing without compromising their rural way of life or giving too much
freedom to developers they do not trust.One idea is to
create a nonprofit that would build only as much housing as island
workers need and in a way that puts the environment first.“I
know we are grieving with the results of the national election,” Martin
Baker, a longtime resident and environmental activist, wrote to
concerned residents last fall. “I suggest this is a place to take
action. It is, after all, our home.”That word, “home,”
resonates deeply here. Cashiers in the grocery store pick up
conversations with customers from the last time they came in. Baristas
anticipate orders. Not only do people leave their cars unlocked, some
leave the keys on the seat.The novelist Michael Chabon
once lived on Vashon and has said it helped inspire the setting of his
2002 book, “Summerland.” In the book, the fictional Clam Island was
connected to the mainland until a bridge collapsed. It did not take long
for islanders to view their new isolation as a good thing. Vashon never
had a bridge, but its residents, like those in the book, are content to
come and go by ferries, which run frequently from two terminals on the
island.“You could not get a cup of coffee or clam
chowder, or hear all about your neighbor’s sick cousin or chicken, on
the Clam Narrows Bridge,” Chabon wrote, adding, “Islands have always
been strange and magical places. Crossing the water to reach them ought
to be, even in a small way, an adventure.”

As
for Trump, some here are trying to take a long view — hoping that
his election is an aberration, a difficult but not insurmountable
hurdle in the march toward a more progressive era.Many
residents note that the West Coast voted overwhelmingly Democratic (some
big cities and counties voted more decisively for Clinton than Vashon
did). They emphasize that Clinton won nearly 3 million more votes nationwide (suggesting
they may not be in such a bubble after all), and they point out that
Trump is viewed with suspicion even among many in his own party (another
reason, they hope, he might not win a second term).“You
have to empathize with and understand those people,” Derek Churchill,
who teaches sustainable forestry practices on Vashon but also
in conservative timber towns, said of Trump voters in rural areas. “A
lot of these folks are so desperate.“They live in places
where schools are closing, where there are meth addiction problems,
these communities that are slowly spiraling downward. That is something
we need to figure out how to address. That’s got to be a wake-up call.”Bianca
Perla, who grew up on the island, earned a doctorate in ecology at the
University of Washington and now runs the Vashon Nature Center, said
that, although she fears a Trump administration, it may not be a bad
thing that his election pierced what she called Vashon’s “bubble
mentality.”“Now we see more widely,” Perla said. “Our
island, the nice thing about it is we can be sort of insular and have
this beauty all around us. But the cold reality is that it’s affected by
larger systems. It’s all connected.”That dynamic, in fact, is what prompted the cougar to make his big swim last summer.

Sergeant Kim Chandler of the Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife said the cougar likely was seeking a bubble of its own — a
place with lush forests and abundant prey, a refuge from the
increasingly developed region beyond Vashon. Now, however, after the
cougar has been linked to at least four alpaca deaths, the state is
trying to trap it. If the state succeeds, the animal may be outfitted
with a GPS collar and released in the Cascade Range.“If
you picked that island up and plopped it down somewhere near the
mountains,” Chandler said, “it’d be exactly the same habitat.”

Feckless on Foreign Policy

The Senate Democrats' sound and fury over
President Donald Trump's cabinet picks and his political agenda is
apparently signifying nothing – at least on defense policy. The fact
that the Senate quickly confirmed General James "Mad Dog" Mattis by a
vote of 98-1
late Friday afternoon in the wake of inauguration activities shows that
even progressive Democrats, such as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth
Warren, don't have the stomach for a foreign policy fight with Trump's
new Pentagon. That's how effectively Trump and perhaps even Mattis'
defense industry connections are already bullying Washington into submission.

Sanders justified his vote by saying
that while Mattis wasn't the nominee he preferred, "in a Trump cabinet
likely to be loaded up with right-wing extremists, all of whom I will
oppose, I hope General Mattis will have a moderating influence on some
of the racist and xenophobic views that President Trump advocated
throughout the campaign." This is incredibly wishful and relativistic
thinking. Mattis will never be a moderating influence, and he's already
exhibited racist and xenophobic thinking by the ways in which he views
the adversary.

The Pentagon's new secretary of defense believes, and is on record
saying, that we should "have a plan to kill everybody you meet," that
"if you f*ck with me, I'll kill you all," and that "there are some
assholes in the world that just need to be shot".

Bombastic braggadocios aren't helpful at the
Pentagon helm. This language may serve a purpose within the defense
industry, as it props up their for-profit modus operandi. But in terms
of aiding international affairs, it's caustic and antagonistic and will
only get us into more wars, not fewer.

Mattis, moreover, thinks that shooting people is
"just business" and that it's "a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
This is exactly the kind of attitude that leads to U.S. Marines
urinating on dead Afghan bodies. When our new defense secretary says
that killing is "a hell of a hoot," and that "It's fun to shoot some
people," we are inculcating a culture of indiscriminate violence. This
is not level-headed and will undoubtedly lead to more trickle-down
killing and callousness.

This is also not emblematic of cooler heads
capable of prevailing amid the myriad precipitous, conflict-ridden
cliffs that we will invariably face in a Trump foreign policy agenda.
Yet, every single Democrat in the Senate – with the exception of New
York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand – voted to send that message to the world.
What a lost opportunity to send a different message.

What's most frustrating here, however, is that
this problem – of progressives rolling over to more militaristic foreign
policy players in Washington – is prevalent within the progressive
policy community. It's also what plagued Sanders' presidential campaign.
Many progressive policymakers don't have sufficient foreign policy
experience to competently push back when questioned about a violent
conflict overseas. They've largely not spent time in conflict zones
without military escort, which is part of the problem, of course, as
Pentagon protection offers an extremely selective and ultimately biased
perspective. Nor have they prioritized meetings with community-based
organizations in Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria or
Pakistan, that are cleaning up after the death and destruction from our
drone strikes, airstrikes, ground raids and weapons trafficking.

RELATED CONTENT

General James Mattis will have the chance to practice what he preaches on nuclear weapons.

This is a serious and serial problem.
Progressive Democrats often get elected to Congress after years of local
and state service on legislatures, county and school boards, and
commissions, but arrive in Washington with little foreign service or
foreign policy expertise of any kind. They haven't seen for themselves –
and our mainstream media are rarely showing – the disastrous wake left
behind by our military invasions. And they often can't properly
pronounce a foreign or adversary's town, tribe, territory or tactic in a
debate, getting trounced by more militarily minded opponents.

This happens over and over and over again. And
it was very visible in debates between Sanders and Hillary Clinton. She
was clearly perceived as the security expert, even if it came with email
blunders, because she had exposure while at the State Department to the
language, the lexicon and the litany of defense apparatuses that are
useful to presidential debate.

It's high time progressives in Congress –
elected officials and their senior staff – get over to places like Bayda
province in Yemen, where the Trump administration's first drone strikes occurred over the weekend, Somalia's Galmudug region, where the U.S. killed
nearly two dozen government soldiers in September, and anywhere in
Afghanistan, where the U.S. under the Obama administration increased air
strikes by 40 percent
in 2016. And insist to see it with the assistance and collaboration of
local actors and international aid and relief organizations.

Then, progressive members of Congress might be
able to go toe-to-toe with the Mattises of this world. Until then,
progressives have no fighting chance on the foreign policy front.

Trump's 'day of patriotic devotion' has echoes of North Korea

Donald Trump has echoed North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un,
after declaring that the day of his inauguration should be a “national
day of patriotic devotion” – a rallying cry that would not be out of
place in the secretive state’s propaganda.Trump’s proclamation, which was made official on Monday,
has been uttered by Kim in speeches to his 1.2 million-strong military
and members of the ruling Korean Workers’ party in recent years.

In an address to a military parade in Pyongyang
on 10 October 2015 – the party’s 70th anniversary – Kim thanked the
“heroic men and women” of the army and security services who, “in hearty
response to the party’s appeal, have worked with patriotic devotion and
created one heroic miracle after another” in their quest to build a
“thriving socialist nation”.The phrase also crops up in North Korean propaganda.On 19 December last year, the fifth anniversary of the death of Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il,
the Rodong Sinmun, the ruling party’s official newspaper, said of the
late leader: “The noble image and patriotic devotion of the peerless
patriot, who reliably defended socialism centred on the popular masses
and turned [North Korea] into an invincible politico-ideological power
and a world military power.”In an article just after Kim’s death,
the official KCNA news agency cited meteorologists as saying “the
spring of prosperity under socialism will surely come … thanks to the
patriotic devotion of Kim Jong-il, who blocked the howling wind of
history till the last moments of his life”.And last January, the Rodong Sinmun cited a speech in which Kim
Jong-un had congratulated a socialist youth league formed in the name of
his grandfather and North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung, on its 70th anniversary.Kim, according to the paper, said the league had enjoyed “a history
of brilliant victories of the great leaders’ original idea of
prioritising the youth and their wise leadership and a history of ardent
loyalty and patriotic devotion, with which the young people of Korea
have supported the party and the leader, the country and the people”.Trump’s use of the term, and its provenance, was noted on Twitter.

In his inaugural speech, Trump declared that he would put “America
first” and argued that patriotic zeal could heal the nation’s divisions.On Monday, paperwork was filed with the federal government declaring that the day of his inauguration, 20 January 2017, would be officially known as the “National Day of Patriotic Devotion”.Trump’s executive order said the proclamation would “strengthen our
bonds to each other and to our country – and to renew the duties of
government to the people”.Jiro Ishimaru of Asia Press,
an Osaka-based organisation with a network of high-level contacts in
North Korea, said that by invoking patriotic devotion, Trump appeared to
be channeling three generations of North Korea’s Kim dynasty.

Trump’s inaugural speech in full“Ordinary North Koreans hear those words every day,” Ishimaru told
the Guardian. “They don’t just appear in the media and speeches, but on
posters and in other propaganda. They hear the word patriotism at local
residents’ meetings, where, for example, they’re told to produce more
rice out of love for their country, or to collect more scrap metal for
weapons and bullets.”It is not unusual for incoming US presidents to draw on their
political and philosophical beliefs when, as is customary, they give a
new name to inauguration day. Barack Obama called his first
inauguration, in 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation;
eight years earlier, George W Bush began his first term by declaring the
date a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving.Ishimaru said most ordinary North Koreans were barely aware that the
US had a new president. The Rodong Sinmun reported the inauguration in a
brief article, without comment, at the bottom of the newspaper’s back
page on Sunday, two days after it took place.“I talk to North Koreans every day, and Trump’s inauguration has
barely registered with them,” he said. “Life is extremely tough, so they
are too busy concentrating on their own problems to think about US
politics.”

Since you’re here…

…we
have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than
ever but far fewer are paying for it. And advertising revenues across
the media are falling fast. So you can see why we need to ask for your
help. The Guardian's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot
of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe
our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective,
too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to pay for it, our future would be much more secure.

Topics

President Trump tweets on Women’s March protesters: “Why didn’t these people vote?”

Protesters walk during the Women’s
March on Washington, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, on January
21, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Mario Tama, Getty Images

Last Updated Jan 22, 2017 1:33 PM EST

President
Donald Trump, in between tweets about his “long standing ovations” at
CIA headquarters and his inauguration’s television ratings, implied in a
tweet early Sunday morning that the Women’s March protesters did not vote.“Watched
protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an
election!” Mr. Trump wrote. “Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt
cause badly.”

However, shortly after posting that first tweet, he added that he respects Americans’ right to protest:

She denounced the “vulgar” comments from some at the Women’s
March on Washington, saying there was no need for such “negative”
comments.“You had profanity-laced, vulgar comments coming from
celebrities,” she said. “Donald Trump in his inaugural address talked
about the forgotten man, now these forgotten celebrities came to
Washington to deliver really negative messages.”The gender gap in the election
was large: Mr. Trump beat Clinton by 53 percent to 41 percent among
men, while Clinton won among women by 54 percent to 42 percent. The
gender breakdown among white voters was different, however: Mr. Trump
beat Clinton among white women 53 percent to 43 percent.The
Women’s March featured millions of protesters in cities across the
country rallying against President Trump’s stated agenda, with the
primary protest being a large rally in Washington, D.C. Many protesters
wore pointy-eared “pussyhats,” carried signs protesting various aspects
of the new administration’s plans, and chanted, “Welcome to your first
day, we will never go away.”

We
were going to Canada in the summer. “When we are in Edmonton”, I said
to Christoph Cremer, “let’s make a quick trip to Seattle”. And that’s
how it happened. At Edmonton Airport we climbed into a plane and two
hours later we landed in the city where Betty had lived. I was so happy
to be in Seattle at last and to be able to trace Betty’s tracks!

Wolfgang Hampel had told Betty’s friends about our arrival.They
were happy to plan a small marathon through the town and it’s
surroundings with us. We only had a few days free. One should not
underestimate Wolfgang’s talent in speedily mobilizing Betty’s friends,
even though it was holiday time. E-mails flew backwards and forwards
between Heidelberg and Seattle, and soon a well prepared itinerary was
ready for us. Shortly before my departure Wolfgang handed me several
parcels, presents for Betty MacDonald's friends. I rushed to pack the
heavy gifts in my luggage but because of the extra weight had to throw
out a pair of pajamas!

After we had landed we took a taxi to the
Hotel in downtown Seattle. I was so curious to see everything. I
turned my head in all directions like one of the hungry hens from
Betty’s farm searching for food! Fortunately it was quite a short
journey otherwise I would have lost my head like a loose screw!Our
hotel room was on the 22nd floor and looked directly out onto the
16-lane highway. There might have been even more than 16 but it made me
too giddy to count! It was like a glimpse of hell! “And is this
Seattle?” I asked myself. I was horrified! The cars racing by were
enough to drive one mad. The traffic roared by day and night. We
immediately contacted Betty MacDonald's friends and let them know we had
arrived and they confirmed the times when we should see them.

On
the next morning I planned my first excursion tracing Betty’s tracks. I
spread out the map of Seattle. “Oh dear” I realized “the Olympic
Peninsula is much too far away for me to get there.” Betty nodded to me! “Very difficult, Letizia, without a car.”

“But I so much wanted to see your chicken farm”

“My chickens are no longer there and you can admire the mountains from a distance”

But
I wanted to go there. I left the hotel and walked to the waterfront
where the State Ferry terminal is. Mamma mia, the streets in Seattle are
so steep! I couldn’t prevent my feet from running down the hill. Why
hadn’t I asked for brakes to be fixed on my shoes? I looked at the
drivers. How incredibly good they must be to accelerate away from the
red traffic lights. The people were walking uphill towards me as briskly
as agile salmon. Good heavens, these Americans! I tried to keep my
balance. The force of gravity is relentless. I grasped hold of objects
where I could and staggered down.In Canada a friend had warned me that in Seattle I would see a lot of people with crutches.

Betty laughed. “ It’s not surprising, Letizia, walking salmon don’t fall directly into the soft mouth of a bear!”“ Betty, stop making these gruesome remarks. We are not in Firlands!”

I
went further. Like a small deranged ant at the foot of a palace monster
I came to a tunnel. The noise was unbearable. On the motorway, “The
Alaskan Way Viaduct”, cars, busses and trucks were driving at the speed
of light right over my head. They puffed out their poisonous gas into
the open balconies and cultivated terraces of the luxurious sky-
scrapers without a thought in the world. America! You are crazy!“Betty,
are all people in Seattle deaf? Or is it perhaps a privilege for
wealthy people to be able to enjoy having cars so near to their eyes and
noses to save them from boredom?”

“When the fog democratically allows everything to disappear into nothing, it makes a bit of a change, Letizia”

“ Your irony is incorrigible, Betty, but tell me, Seattle is meant to be a beautiful city, But where?”I had at last reached the State Ferry terminal.

“No
Madam, the ferry for Vashon Island doesn’t start from here,” one of the
men in the ticket office tells me. ”Take a buss and go to the ferry
terminal in West Seattle.”Betty explained to me “The island lies in
Puget Sound and not in Elliott Bay! It is opposite the airport. You must
have seen it when you were landing!”“Betty, when I am landing I shut my eyes and pray!”

It’s time for lunch. The weather is beautiful and warm. Who said to me that it always rains here?“Sure
to be some envious man who wanted to frighten you away from coming to
Seattle. The city is really beautiful, you’ll see. Stay by the
waterfront, choose the best restaurant with a view of Elliott Bay and
enjoy it.”“Thank you Betty!”I find a table on the
terrace of “Elliott’s Oyster House”. The view of the island is
wonderful. It lies quietly in the sun like a green fleecy cushion on the
blue water. Betty plays with my words:“Vashon Island is a big
cushion, even bigger than Bainbridge which you see in front of your
eyes, Letizia. The islands look similar. They have well kept houses and
beautiful gardens”.

I relax during this introduction, “Bainbridge” you are Vashon Island, and order a mineral water.

“At one time the hotel belonging to the parents of Monica Sone stood on the waterfront.”“Oh, of your friend Kimi!” Unfortunately I forget to ask Betty exactly where it was.

My mind wanders and I think of my mountain hike back to the hotel! “Why is there no donkey for tourists?” Betty laughs:

“I’m sure you can walk back to the hotel. “Letizia can do everything.””

“Yes, Betty, I am my own donkey!”But
I don’t remember that San Francisco is so steep. It doesn’t matter, I
sit and wait. The waiter comes and brings me the menu. I almost fall off
my chair!“ What, you have geoduck on the menu! I have to try it” (I
confess I hate the look of geoduck meat. Betty’s recipe with the pieces
made me feel quite sick – I must try Betty’s favourite dish!)“Proof that you love me!” said Betty enthusiastically “ Isn’t the way to the heart through the stomach?”

I order the geoduck. The waiter looks at me. He would have liked to recommend oysters. “Geoduck no good for you!”Had he perhaps read my deepest thoughts? Fate! Then no geoduck. “No good for me.”“Neither geoduck nor tuberculosis in Seattle” whispered Betty in my ear! “Oh Betty, my best friend, you take such good care of me!”

I order salmon with salad.

“Which salmon? Those that swim in water or those that run through Seattle?”

“Betty, I believe you want me to have a taste of your black humour.”

“Enjoy it then, Letizia.”During lunch we talked about tuberculosis, and that quite spoilt our appetite.“Have you read my book “The Plague and I”?”

“Oh Betty, I’ve started to read it twice but both times I felt so sad I had to stop again!”

“But
why?” asked Betty “Nearly everybody has tuberculosis! I recovered very
quickly and put on 20 pounds! There was no talk of me wasting away! What
did you think of my jokes in the book?”

“Those would have been a
good reason for choosing another sanitorium. I would have been afraid
of becoming a victim of your humour! You would have certainly given me a
nickname! You always thought up such amusing names!” Betty laughed.

“You’re
right. I would have called you “Roman nose”. I would have said to Urbi
and Orbi “ Early this morning “Roman nose” was brought here. She speaks
broken English, doesn’t eat geoduck but she does love cats.”

“Oh
Betty, I would have felt so ashamed to cough. To cough in your presence,
how embarrassing! You would have talked about how I coughed, how many
coughs!”

“It depends on that “how”, Letizia!”

“Please,
leave Goethe quotations out of it. You have certainly learnt from the
Indians how to differentiate between noises. It’s incredible how you
can distinguish between so many sorts of cough! At least 10!”

“So few?”

”And
also your descriptions of the patients and the nurses were pitiless. An
artistic revenge! The smallest pimple on their face didn’t escape your
notice! Amazing.”

“ I was also pitiless to myself. Don’t forget my irony against myself!”

Betty
was silent. She was thinking about Kimi, the “Princess” from Japan! No,
she had only written good things about her best friend, Monica Sone, in
her book “The Plague and I”. A deep friendship had started in the
hospital. The pearl that developed from the illness.“Isn’t it
wonderful, Betty, that an unknown seed can make its way into a mollusk
in the sea and develop into a beautiful jewel?” Betty is paying
attention.

“Betty, the friendship between you and Monica reminds
me of Goethe’s poem “Gingo-Biloba”. You must know it?” Betty nods and I
begin to recite it:

The leaf of this Eastern treeWhich has been entrusted to my gardenOffers a feast of secret significance,For the edification of the initiate.

Is it one living thing.That has become divided within itself?Are these two who have chosen each other,So that we know them as one?

The
friendship with Monica is like the wonderful gingo-biloba leaf, the
tree from the east. Betty was touched. There was a deep feeling of trust
between us. “Our friendship never broke up, partly because she was
in distress, endangered by the deadly illness. We understood and
supplemented each other. We were like one lung with two lobes, one from
the east and one from the west!”“A beautiful picture, Betty. You were like two red gingo-biloba leaves!”

Betty
was sad and said ” Monica, although Japanese, before she really knew me
felt she was also an American. But she was interned in America,
Letizia, during the second world war. Isn’t that terrible?”

“Betty,
I never knew her personally. I have only seen her on a video, but what
dignity in her face, and she speaks and moves so gracefully!”

“Fate could not change her”

“Yes, Betty, like the gingo-biloba tree in Hiroshima. It was the only tree that blossomed again after the atom bomb!”

The
bill came and I paid at once. In America one is urged away from the
table when one has finished eating. If one wants to go on chatting one
has to order something else.“That’s why all those people gossiping
at the tables are so fat!” Betty remarks. “Haven’t you seen how many
massively obese people walk around in the streets of America. Like
dustbins that have never been emptied!” With this typically
unsentimental remark Betty ended our conversation.

Ciao! I so
enjoyed the talk; the humour, the irony and the empathy. I waved to her
and now I too felt like moving! I take a lovely walk along the
waterfront.

Now I am back in Heidelberg and when I think about
how Betty’s “Princessin” left this world on September 5th and that in
August I was speaking about her with Betty in Seattle I feel very sad.
The readers who knew her well (we feel that every author and hero of a
book is nearer to us than our fleeting neighbours next door) yes we, who
thought of her as immortal, cannot believe that even she would die
after 92 years. How unforeseen and unexpected that her death should come
four days after her birthday on September 1th. On September 5th I was
on my way to Turkey, once again in seventh heaven, looking back on the
unforgettable days in Seattle. I was flying from west to east towards
the rising sun.

About Me

Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.